LATIN JAZZ IN THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM

KURT GARTNER AND THE KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY LATIN JAZZ ENSEMBLE

KMEA 2017 ANNUAL IN-SERVICE

CUBAN PHONICS AND PHRASES (BASIC TONES AND PATTERNS)

 Clave – the rhythmic heart of Cuban music

 Two types of clave: son (ex. 1) and rumba

Example 1. Son clave, 2-3 direction

Basic tones and grooves for instruments

Example 2. Notation legend for timbales

Example 3. Notation legend for timbale bells, etc.

Example 4. Notation legend for congas and bongos

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Example 5. Developmental exercises for congas

Example 6. Bongocero (bongó player) – martillo (verse pattern), cencerro (bongo bell) pattern
(montuno pattern)

Example 7. Conguero (conga player) – tumbao (verse)

Example 8. Conguero (conga player) – tumbao (montuno section)

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Example 9. Timbalero (timbale player) – cáscara (pattern for verse)

Example 10. Timbalero (timbale player) – campana (bell) pattern for montuno section

Example 11. Abanico, 5-stroke, 2-3 clave

Example 12. Guiro – pattern for chachachá

Example 13. Chachachá percussion patterns

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Example 14. Salsa percussion patterns

Example 15. Tumbao – basic (bass)

Example 16. Tumbao – advanced (bass)

Example 17. Montuno (piano)

African
European
Indigenous

Guajira Son Danzón Rumba Canción

(Country music) ("National Style") (French influence) (Voice/percussion) (Various song forms)

Son Montuno Mambo Cha-cha-chá Guaguancó Bolero

Guaracha Songo Timba Conga y Comparsa

"Urban Son"

Mozambique

Example 18. Family tree of popular Cuban Music

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 CUBAN DIALOGUE (MUSICAL INTERACTION)

 Form-based pattern variations (Salsa verse and montuno)

 Time-keeping variations and solo ideas

Example 19. Solo ideas – off-beats

Example 20. Solo ideas – more off-beats

Example 21. Solo ideas – off-beats relative to clave

Example 22. Tension-release to clave

Example 23. Triplets

Example 24. Hemiola

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Example 25. Scales for D7 chord (or A min. to D7 cycle)

Example 26. Chord layers for D7

SUGGESTED LISTENING AND LITERATURE

Check out 3-2music.com for published music for combo, big band, little big band

Check out descarga.com for artists and “starter packs” of CDs and DVDs

Amat, José Aladio. Afro-Cuban Percussion Workbook (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
– available via amazon.com – ISBN 1463772432)

Gartner, Kurt. Analysis of the Stylistic Development of Selected Tito Puente Timbale Solos in the
Mambo Style (published dissertation, UMI)

Gerard, Charley with Marty Sheller. Salsa! The Rhythm of Latin Music (White Cliffs Media)

Latin Real Book, The (Sher)

Latin Real Easy Book, The (Sher)

Malabe, Frank. Afro-Cuban Grooves for Drums (Manhattan)

Mauleón, Rebeca. Salsa Guidebook for Piano and Ensemble (Sher)

Mauleón, Rebeca. 101 Montunos (Sher)

Puente, Tito and Jim Payne. Tito Puente’s Drumming with the Mambo King (Hudson Music)

Quintana, Jose Luis “Changuito.” Changuito: A Master’s Approach to Timbales

Rodriguez, Alavo Alén. From Afro Cuban Music to Salsa (Piranha)

Sher, Chuck. Latin Bass Book (Sher)

Spiro, Michael. Conga Drummer’s Guidebook, The (Sher)

Sublette, Ned. Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo (Chicago Review Press)

Sulsbruck, Birger. Salsa Session (out of print)

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 SELECTED GLOSSARY (BY REBECA MAULEÓN)

abanico - the rim shot and roll of the timbales.

agbe - the Yoruba term for a beaded gourd instrument also known as chékere or güiro.

agogo - an iron bell of Yoruba origin, used in conjunction with iyesá drums.

batá (drums) - the sacred, two-headed drums of the Yoruba people of Nigeria.

cajón(es) - wooden box(es) used in early interpretations of rumba, and still popular today.

cáscara - 1. The shell or sides of the timbales; 2. The pattern played on the shell or side of the
timbales.

clave - a five-note, bi-measure pattern which serves as the foundation for all of the rhythmic styles
in salsa music. The clave consists of a "strong" measure containing three notes (also called the
“tresillo”), and a "weak" measure containing two notes, resulting in patterns beginning with either
measure, referred to as "three-two" or "two-three". There are two types of clave patterns associated
with popular (secular) music: son clave and rumba clave. Another type of clave - 6/8 clave -
originated in several styles of West African sacred music.

descarga - "unloading" (lit.); a jam session, as well as an improvised tune.

estribillo - a refrain or chorus.

guajira - an arpeggiated and floral song form, derived from the Cuban son with elements of the
canción form.

mambo (rhythm) - 1. The section added to the danzón form (in the 1940's) which featured an open
vamp and instrumental improvisation. 2. An up-tempo dance style, developed through the 40's and
50's, which blended several elements of North American instrumentation and harmony with
elements of the Cuban son.

mambo (section) - the section of an arrangement which features new material, including layered
horn lines called “moñas.”

palitos - "sticks" (lit.); specifically, the sticks and pattern played by the sticks in the genre of Cuban
rumba.

ponche - the fourth beat of a measure (in a measure of four beats), as well as an accent or break
which may be played by the rhythm section or the entire ensemble, often used as a transition from
one section of a song to another.

rumba - a Cuban folkloric secular form, consisting of drumming, dancing and call-and-response
singing which contains both African and Spanish roots. There are three styles of rumba: the yambú,
guaguancó and columbia.

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son - a style of popular dance music of the peasant or working-class, combining several Spanish and
African elements. The son began to take shape in the latter half of the 19th century in Cuba's
Oriente province, and gave birth to several hybrids, including the afro-son, guajira-son, son-pregón
and son-montuno. The son is perhaps the most important form at the root of today's popular salsa
music.

tres - a Cuban stringed instrument derived from the Spanish guitar, consisting of three double
strings and played with a pick. The tres is the signature instrument of the Cuban son.

tumbao (bass) - the repeated pattern played by the bass, often accenting beats 2+ and 4. The
pattern is a mixture of influences from the styles of the contradanza and the son.

tumbao (congas) - the repeated pattern played by the tumbadoras (conga drums), also referred to
as marcha (march), emphasizing the fourth beat of the measure, as well as beat 4+.

Yoruba - the people (and language) from Nigeria, and one of the most influential African cultures
throughout the Caribbean.

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